To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

2. The Fake Saintess

Duke Lartman, who had been watching Liv lost in thought, calmly opened his mouth.

“It seems there’s nothing we can do right now.”

The banquet had already ended, and it was time for them to go home. The assassin wouldn’t appear at this banquet where the Emperor had already left, and there would be no answers.

“Then can we talk about this issue next time?”

“…Let’s do that.”

“See you next time then, Your Grace.”

As Liv waved her hand slightly to bid farewell to Duke Lartman, Hildegard, who had been sticking close to her side, linked arms with her. As if she had been waiting for this moment, she spoke in a whisper-like voice as soon as the Duke disappeared.

“Sister Liv, doesn’t something seem strange?”

“What?”

“…The Duke, he wasn’t originally this affectionate towards you, sister. It’s like he’s gone back to the past. No, it’s more than that!”

“Hmm…”

“Sister, try to recall when you first debuted in high society. Isn’t it really strange?”

At Hildegard’s words, Liv’s memories, buried deep within, began to slowly surface. A few years ago, back when Liv was first adopted into the Count Hamelsvoort family.

* * *

Liv was sitting on the street. Her head throbbed as if it would crack.

Child, this world is yours.

Inside her head, she could hear the voices of the gods resonating loudly in a size that ordinary humans had never heard before. When Liv closed her eyes tightly and curled up her body to endure the overwhelming pressure, an ear-splitting sound was heard.

Screech!

“Oh my!”

The coachman driving the carriage shouted at Liv in an angry voice.

“Hey! Even if you’re crazy, be gracefully crazy. What if you sit on the street? Move right now!”

Liv looked up at the carriage with dazed eyes. Had she almost been run over by the carriage just now? No, but she couldn’t possibly die.

As she stared blankly at the carriage with a dizzy head, the door of the carriage opened.

“Oh my goodness.”

The one who stepped out from there was a noblewoman wearing dazzling and luxurious clothes that made one naturally exclaim how bright and fancy they were. When someone encountered something too unfamiliar, they lost the means to describe it, and at that moment, Liv didn’t even know how to explain those clothes.

But there were also things one could instinctively know. Liv looked at her red dress and then reflexively looked at her own shabby rags. Only then did Liv realize that her clothes were in a terrible state.

“Child, why are you alone in a place like this?”

A man wearing equally luxurious clothes followed behind her and got off. As soon as he saw Liv, he widened his eyes and shouted.

“Honey, could it be…!”

“Yes?”

“Could that girl be the Saintess?”

At those words, the woman’s eyes widened like the man’s. The couple scrutinized Liv one by one with disbelieving eyes.

“Her hair is white! It’s clearly the color of god!”

Liv quietly looked at her own hair flowing down her shoulders. So white was the color of god. Liv thought so. Indeed, it wasn’t strange for her to have the color of god.

“And look at the wound on that child’s foot!”

Liv looked at her own foot, which was bleeding. It was a wound that had been caused by a large stone a moment ago.

“The wound is healing!”

As they said, the large wound on Liv’s foot was healing quickly.

“You’re right, it’s healing at an unbelievably fast rate!”

Other people’s wounds don’t heal this quickly. Liv thought.

“She seems to be a child who lived in the slums, right?”

“Originally, god loves those born in the lowest places!”

As Liv blinked her eyes blankly, the couple seemed to have already convinced themselves that she was that ‘Saintess’.

“As expected, the revelation that a Saintess would appear soon was true!”

“And the fact that she appeared in front of our Hamelsvoort family’s carriage makes it certain! We’re the only family who can serve the Saintess!”

They approached Liv with an extremely excited face, like people who had discovered a gold mine, and slowly extended their hands.

“Saintess, won’t you come with us?”

Liv didn’t know what she should do in this situation. It was her first time meeting people wearing such luxurious clothes, and no one had ever taught her how to act in such a situation.

“What’s a Saintess?”

When Liv stammered and asked that, unable to grasp the situation, they answered with a kind face as if facing the highest person.

“A Saintess is a child who receives God’s love.”

A child who receives God’s love? Then that was definitely Liv.

Take their hand, Liv.

Moreover, she could hear the voices of the gods saying that in her head.

Liv had lived her entire life with the voices of the gods by her side like a part of her body. Just as the human body moved according to the brain, it was natural for Liv to follow their voices.

So Liv took their hands and was adopted as a daughter of the Count Hamelsvoort family.

* * *

After going to the Hamelsvoort family, Liv took a bath in a bathtub filled with warm water for the first time. The women called ‘maids’ washed her with gentle hands. Even though her body was getting soaked, it strangely didn’t feel bad, and it was fascinating that her body smelled nice, so Liv quietly closed her eyes and enjoyed the bath.

After finishing the bath, Liv received a white dress that felt fluffy to the touch and had a glossy sheen to the eye. It was so clean that she worried the dress would get contaminated if she wore it.

“I’m going to wear this?”

“Oh my, of course! It’s a dress made for you, Saintess!”

The maids surrounding Liv seemed to firmly believe that she was the ‘Saintess’.

‘Am I a Saintess? How is a Saintess determined? But if people say I’m a Saintess, then it must be true.’

When one knows nothing, the words of those around them naturally feel like the answer. Above all, the gods had also told Liv to follow these people.

The white dress had a soft texture that Liv had never felt before. It felt as if it would swallow Liv and melt away, flowing down.

The maids sat Liv, wearing the flouncy dress, in front of the dressing table and brushed her hair. The tangled hair shone as oil was applied.

“Oh my! It’s my first time seeing such beautiful white hair.”

“Truly, it must be because you’re the Saintess!”

They expressed their admiration for Liv’s white hair. As she fiddled with her hair, Liv thought that she was starting to like this hair more and more for some reason.

“How can her skin be so fair?”

“It’s like she hasn’t received a single ray of sunlight in her life!”

They continued to lavish praise on Liv’s appearance after that as well.

After finishing her grooming, they took Liv to a place called the ‘dining room’. Beyond the dining room, there seemed to be a nice aroma, so Liv sniffed. And when she opened the door to the dining room, Liv’s mouth gaped at the sight before her eyes.

Dishes with steam rising from them were spread out on the table. Liv had never seen such a thing before. As Liv stared at the table with dazed eyes, the maids happily sat Liv in a chair and served her the food.

“Saintess, eat as much as you want!”

“I’m going to eat this?”

“Yes, you’re supposed to eat it!”

Liv barely managed to pick up a spoon with trembling hands. The spoon kept slipping from her hand, but Liv succeeded in clumsily holding the spoon in a sloppy posture. Warm soup went into her mouth. She didn’t know what it was, but it had a sweet and soft taste. It felt as if her throat was melting.

After that, Liv tasted the dishes on the table with a cautious touch. Some foods were slightly salty, some were crispy, and others were nutty. Whenever Liv couldn’t properly define the taste of those foods, the gods told her in her mind how to express it in words.

When Liv was putting foods she had never eaten before into her mouth, the door to the dining room opened and the man and woman who had brought her here entered. They sat in front of Liv with a delighted face upon seeing her tidied-up appearance and said.

“Saintess, what is your name?”

“Name?”

“It means your given name.”

At that, Liv answered with a bright smile. Ah, this was the only thing she could confidently answer amidst all the questions she didn’t know!

“Liv.”

“A name that means love. It’s a pretty name befitting a Saintess.”

“Then from now on, you will be Liv Hamelsvoort.”

“Hamelsvoort?”

“It’s our family name. Since we decided to adopt you into our family.”

Liv blinked slowly. She didn’t know what adoption meant, but perhaps adopting her meant…

“Then can I keep living like this?”

“Yes, you can enjoy anything as the Saintess!”

Liv was happy with just that. It seemed that she had been given a reward for having lived a difficult life until now. Ah, the reward she tasted for the first time was so sweet.

However, the Liv of that time didn’t know the law that there was no such thing as a reward for misfortune in human life.